11-19-2025
04:00 PM
05:30 PM
Tea House (LIB 3015）
Duke Kunshan University (DKU) Library and the Division of Arts and Humanities are pleased to invite you to the latest event in the DKU Library Author Talk Series, titled “Uneasy Allies: Sino-American Relations at the Grassroots, 1937–1949,” This event explores the complex Sino-American interactions during the turbulent period of World War II, the Chinese Civil War, and the opening of the Cold War.
We are privileged to have Dr. Zach Fredman, Associate Professor of History at DKU, and co-editor of Uneasy Allies: Sino-American Relations at the Grassroots, 1937–1949, to share insights from this compelling volume. Dr. Kolleen Guy, Associate Professor of History at DKU will moderate the discussion.
*Light refreshments will be provided.
Editor: Dr. Zach Fredman
Associate Professor of History, Duke Kunshan University
Division Chair of Arts and Humanities, Duke Kunshan University
Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs, Duke Kunshan University
Dr. Zach Fredman is a historian of the modern history of the United States and China. In addition to “Uneasy Allies,” he is also the author of “The Tormented Alliance: American Servicemen and the Occupation of China, 1941–1949” (2022) and winner of the Edward M. Coffman First Book Manuscript Prize from the Society for Military History.
Moderator: Dr. Kolleen Guy
Associate Professor of History, Duke Kunshan University
Associate Dean for Academic Services, Duke Kunshan University
Her main research interest is on how both the consumption and production of food and drink shape national memory and identity. Her teaching interests at Duke Kunshan include global history and areas related to food systems and the environment.
Explore the Book
Uneasy Allies: Sino-American Relations at the Grassroots, 1937–1949
Editors: Zach Fredman and Judd Kinzley
ISBN: 9781009534949
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Year of Publication: 2024
Call number: E183.8 .C5 U54 2024
Electronic book: https://www-cambridge-org.proxy.lib.duke.edu/core/books/uneasy-allies/FD86A9B02E0CCF0038B97724DD857304
Overview:
Uneasy Allies is a collection of essays that examine the complex and often fraught relationship between the United States and China from early 1930s to late 1940s. Instead of analyzing elite diplomacy and political strategies, this book delves into the grassroots or people-to-people dynamics that shaped Sino-American relations during that period. It examines how ordinary people, social and religious groups, and cultural exchanges played important roles in bridging or dividing the two countries as well as how personal interactions, perceptions, and prejudices influenced the broader geopolitical landscape which is characteristic of both cooperation and growing mistrust. These essays offer various and valuable insights into the fragile Sino-American relationships during that period of time and development of subsequent Cold War.
Poster: Cai He
